PSYCH484:

Lesson 1: Introduction to Work Motivation and Job Attitudes

Factors Affecting Motivation

Table 1.1 lists three primary categories of variables that influence work motivation.

First, individual characteristics refer to what an employee brings to the work situation (e.g., needs, attitudes, and interests).

Second, job characteristics refer to what an employee does at work (e.g., boring versus stimulating work, doing the same thing over and over versus having variety in the work).

Third, work environment characteristics refer to what happens to an employee at work (e.g., rewards for work, how they get along with the boss and co-workers).

Clearly, each is an important contributor to motivation. An employee may have a positive attitude toward their job and find their work interesting, but their motivation may decline because their pay is not competitive or because they do not get along with co-workers. Although this framework does not provide an exhaustive listing of the factors that influence work motivation, it does help to depict important categories of variables that we will be discussing throughout the course.

I. Individual Characteristics	II. Job Characteristics	III. Work Environment Characteristics
Interests Attitudes toward self toward job toward aspects of the work situation Needs security social achievement	Types of intrinsic rewards Degree of autonomy Amount of direct performance feedback Degree of variety in tasks	Immediate work environment peers supervisor(s) Organizational actions reward practices system wide rewards individual rewards organizational climate

Table 1.1 Variables affecting the motivational process in organizational settings Source: Steer, R. M., & Porter, L. W. (1991). Motivation and work behavior (5th edition). New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc, p. 20. Derived from Porter & Miles, 1974